Chinook just cruised past
Discussion
Just had one fly over the house (Durham area, heading north).
Almost forgot what an amazing noise these things make, hence the nickname wokka wokka I suppose. Last time I saw one, circa 2004 - it was dropping people on training exercises into the sea off the coast of Holyhead, while boats scooped them up.
No real point to this thread, other than being thrilled at seeing one of the big beasts in action for the first time in a while.
Any ideas where he's off to?
Almost forgot what an amazing noise these things make, hence the nickname wokka wokka I suppose. Last time I saw one, circa 2004 - it was dropping people on training exercises into the sea off the coast of Holyhead, while boats scooped them up.
No real point to this thread, other than being thrilled at seeing one of the big beasts in action for the first time in a while.
Any ideas where he's off to?
I live not far from Aldershot where they fly into and out of a lot. They fly over the house low sometimes and even better they fly over our house low late at night and in complete darkness. No lights, nothing. I always run out and can never see them, its quite spooky hearing that sound all around you and not being able to place it. Love them!
pano amo said:
even better they fly over our house low late at night and in complete darkness. No lights, nothing. I always run out and can never see them, its quite spooky hearing that sound all around you and not being able to place it.
I've just finished over 20 years on Chinnys. The one thing I'll probably miss most is the thrill, sneakiness and sheer stealth of flying around at 100' and 150mph completely blacked-out.
BliarOut said:
You do know how they fly....
They're so ugly the ground actually repels hem
THIS is slanderThey're so ugly the ground actually repels hem
They are wonderful thingies
The first time I ever saw a Chinook in the flesh I was amazed
'cos it was coming for me. Many years before the RAF had them.
After a large patrolex in Bavaria we were exfiltrated from a huge "crushed corn" field ( A popular German crop was "crushed by tanks corn" and they were paid handsomely for having it squashed) when a pair of them flew in at tree top height, landed fifty yards away and in we all dived
magnificent aircraft for tired troops to savour
When I went through Loadmaster School at Finningley in '88 we spent the first 14 weeks doing the basic course before being streamed rotary or fixed. During this time we spent hours poring over the loading and tie-down schedules for various types of loads, where to put them, how to secure them, etc. This included the 58 variants of Landrover in Nato use, with each one having its own unique tie-down schedule that was kept in a huge volume that also contained many other vehicles, that needed updating once a month.
Once I had taken and passed (80% passmark) the 14 exams at the end of basic I was streamed onto the 6 week Rotary Course; day 1, lesson 1:
"Whatever you learnt about securing vehicles in the previous course forget it, when you touch down in a hot zone you have less than two minutes to get them on board, secure them, and get the F*** out!"
Once I had taken and passed (80% passmark) the 14 exams at the end of basic I was streamed onto the 6 week Rotary Course; day 1, lesson 1:
"Whatever you learnt about securing vehicles in the previous course forget it, when you touch down in a hot zone you have less than two minutes to get them on board, secure them, and get the F*** out!"
Boring factoid. When I completed by abdr cross trade assessors course at saints, one of the cabs we worked on was a chinook, the one that shed a blade then a front gearbox/pylon/cockpit roof, a bit spooky working on a crashed aircraft.
Anyway, the drive shaft that runs front to back is as thick as your thigh and this one was cleanly snapped off at where the front gearbox pylon should have been.
Scary amount of energy release there.
Anyway, the drive shaft that runs front to back is as thick as your thigh and this one was cleanly snapped off at where the front gearbox pylon should have been.
Scary amount of energy release there.
Crossflow Kid said:
I've just finished over 20 years on Chinnys.
The one thing I'll probably miss most is the thrill, sneakiness and sheer stealth of flying around at 100' and 150mph completely blacked-out.
The one thing I'll probably miss most is the thrill, sneakiness and sheer stealth of flying around at 100' and 150mph completely blacked-out.
Sneakiness & Stealth - two words I've never uttered in the same sentence as 'Chinook' before!
They sometimes do night flight touch & go's (or whatever the correct aero term is) in a field maybe 500m from my house. Lying in bed, you can hear the approach coming over the field... Thwump, Thwump, THWUMP, THWUMP
The windows shake with each thwump... Blimey this one sounds low - the satellite dish is really gonna go...
The gloss wore off for a while. But when you stop to consider the places and dangers in which these guys operate though, if a bit of practice buzzing my chimney helps to ensure than they all return home safe again then fill yer boots, chaps.
DaveR said:
Sneakiness & Stealth - two words I've never uttered in the same sentence as 'Chinook' before!
They sometimes do night flight touch & go's (or whatever the correct aero term is) in a field maybe 500m from my house. Lying in bed, you can hear the approach coming over the field... Thwump, Thwump, THWUMP, THWUMP
The windows shake with each thwump... Blimey this one sounds low - the satellite dish is really gonna go...
The gloss wore off for a while. But when you stop to consider the places and dangers in which these guys operate though, if a bit of practice buzzing my chimney helps to ensure than they all return home safe again then fill yer boots, chaps.
I presume the same one went over my house in Falkirk, about 120 miles north from Durham at about 11.30 last night, heading west. what speed do these things cruise at, i presume it will easy do 100 mph to get up here in that time but i cant help you about where it was going after that. can't see us being able to afford enough avgas or whatever these things run on to actually have 2 flying at once.
nobodyknows said:
DaveR said:
Sneakiness & Stealth - two words I've never uttered in the same sentence as 'Chinook' before!
They sometimes do night flight touch & go's (or whatever the correct aero term is) in a field maybe 500m from my house. Lying in bed, you can hear the approach coming over the field... Thwump, Thwump, THWUMP, THWUMP
The windows shake with each thwump... Blimey this one sounds low - the satellite dish is really gonna go...
The gloss wore off for a while. But when you stop to consider the places and dangers in which these guys operate though, if a bit of practice buzzing my chimney helps to ensure than they all return home safe again then fill yer boots, chaps.
Three flew over here Sat and I thought the roof was coming in!
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